Sustainable travel is a lot like living a sustainable lifestyle – you try to reduce your carbon footprint on the earth as much as possible. Being eco-friendly should not be limited to your regular life alone- you should imbibe it in your schedule to such an extent that it becomes normative for you to live and thrive green.
Our planet has only a few limited resources to spare, and it is our responsibility to save and protect these resources for our subsequent generations. To do this, all you need is to make some conscious lifestyle changes – including your traveling habits.
In the article below, we elaborate more on the idea of sustainable travel and how you, too, can participate in this with Fast Cover.
What Exactly is Sustainable Travel?
Sustainable travel, to put it in simple terms, refers to a system in which the tourism industry of a specific place can continue growing without having any adverse effects on the natural environment of the area concerned.
Sustainable travel encourages travelers to take a close look at the impact that their travel mediums are having on the environment around them. Travelers should also be sensitive to the effect that the tourism industry has on the indigenous cultures of the area.
How to be a Sustainable Traveler?
Here is how you can take the initial steps towards sustainable tourism if you’re new to the concept of sustainable travel but are eager to try it out:
1. Take direct flights wherever possible
When a trip takes off or lands, the maximum amount of carbon dioxide is emitted. It is always the best idea to take a direct flight to someplace instead of a hopping flight to reduce your carbon footprint to a minimum.
2. Use sustainable means of transport in the rent places you go
If your destination has biking or walking provisions for getting from one place to another, then taking these might be the best idea. For locations that are a little further away, you can take the local buses or trains instead of private cars for the least amount of pollution.
3. Travel slowly
An excellent way to even out your carbon footprint is by being a slow traveler- visiting and staying in a place for a more extended period and not taking frequent flights around the world. Doing this will also help you explore all the small little nooks and crannies of your destination until you have a wholesome idea of the place.
4. Stay away from large resorts
The idea of staying in a large resort may seem perfect for you, but you should also remember that the larger the resort, the more water and electricity it consumes. Instead, you can seek accommodation in locally-owned lodges, after ensuring that they have a green certificate.
5. Only participate in ethical wildlife tourism
If a tourism company offers you close-up interactions with wild animals, there is a good chance that the animals are being mistreated behind closed doors. Instead, choose options like safaris, where you can see the animals from afar in their natural habitat.
6. Avoid Flying
Flying is the fastest way to travel; there is no doubt about that. But sometimes, we prefer it for being the most comfortable, regardless of the impact that large airplanes can have on the environment. It is estimated that planes account for 3% of EU CO2 and that they can reach 15% in a few years.
But in addition to CO2, airplanes emit other greenhouse gases, such as nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, in addition to sulfate and soot particles, which favors global dimming and climate change. Therefore, fly when it is vital. The less we support these emissions, the better.
7. Search for sustainable hotels
More and more accommodations aim at being part of the commitment of sustainable hotels. This process entails contributing to environmental sustainability, with the protection and improvement of its environment, using responsible practices that attempt to reduce the negative impacts of its activities.
CO2 emissions are reduced, water and energy consumptions are minimized, work is being done to improve the quality of spills, and effective waste management is carried out. That is why, when we choose an eco-friendly and sustainable accommodation, we help our planet.
8. Avoid crowded destinations
The destinations of high tourist concentration deplete their resources to frenetic rhythms; tourism brings economic benefits, but without control can cause severe impacts on the environment. Search for alternative destinations and flee from large crowds. One way to avoid the large crowds is to travel with your environmentally safe campervan. It is great experience and in the same time it is very good because you can move from location to location whenever you want. To find out more you can visit campervan hire comparison website Compare and Choose.
9. Respect flora and fauna
First: reject products made with animals. No clothes, no gifts – say no to products that use animals as raw material.
Flora and fauna are there for you to enjoy, not that you take them home. If you want a souvenir of plants or animals, use your camera but leave them where they are.
10. Sustainable and eco-friendly tourism
The lower the consumption of resources on our trips, the lower the impact on the environment.
Little tricks to travel more sustainably:
- Rechargeable batteries
Using rechargeable batteries will save countless highly polluting waste that, depending on where you are, is likely not even to be recycled. Use rechargeable batteries, and there is one less problem.
- Reusable bottles
Stop discarding plastic bottles. Plastic has become one of the worst scourges of our time, and we should contribute to stopping it. Use reusable containers that you can refill, in the style of traditional canteens. In many different places, the water will not be drinkable, and you will need to buy water, but it is always better to buy a bottle and refill it than to buy a multitude of small containers.
- Hotel towels
Have you ever thought about the amount of water that hotels spend to wash sheets and towels? And about detergents they use? Do not leave towels to be cleaned daily; reuse them during your stay. Also, on long trips, it is advisable to travel with your towel and be the one who controls your washing.
- Shared transport
Public transport, shared transport, electric vehicles – all of them, will always create less impact on the environment than if each of us uses our combustion engine to move.
- Solar panels
They are an excellent system to keep our devices charged when we travel and thus contribute to lower energy consumption. Today there are light, with small photovoltaic cells, and easily transportable in our luggage.
- Portable ashtray
Smoking produces waste that is difficult to dispose of: butts. If you travel to a place where there are no prepared ashtrays, take your own with you so that the cigarette butts do not become a testimony of your passage.
- Reduce your waste
Reduce your waste, today and always, here and there. Keep in mind that many destinations do not have waste management systems in place like those we have in our daily lives, the treatment of garbage is not always the best, so the less you throw away, the less chance there will be of altering the environment.
